In these days of very high demand, it is not unusual for operator of "shopping cart" oriented website to put very tight parameters on "stale entries in shopping cart" or "stale shopping carts".

Understandably, these vendors don't want inventory stuck in stale shopping carts for hours on end - shy of purchase - leaving others who come along ready to purchase on the spot left to dry.

So if a website lowers "remove stale items" or "remove stale carts" down to 5 minutes - I certainly agree with it. That's a reasonable time for someone to select the item - make a final decision - and submit the order.

In the past I have contacted vendors who's website parameters were so tight - I could have my cart removed before I can even finish checking out. This has happened to quite a few of us.

The past few times I have done that and communicated with the website operator - they grudgingly admit to it and apologize. One in the state of Tennessee was the most recent - last week.

AimSurplus just 15 minutes ago - was a different story. Not only did I have a cart in probably 10 seconds for Aguila SuperExtra - first for 20 - then 10 - not only did I go through the checkout - but I also cleared the checkout for 10.

So I called to ask that it be added to my existing order - ammo can plus Lapua Center-X.

While I'm on the phone...suddenly - at the top of my account - "10 items in cart..."

WTF?

Sure enough, everything had been undone 1-2 steps back.

So of course, I took the time to explain to the rep. that whether intended or not - they have their "stale" parameters WAY TOO TIGHT to the point that someone who has already ordered is getting the carpet pulled out from under them by another person who connects later.

The rep went into denial...

So I flat out ordered a cancellation of my pre-existing Ammo Can and Lapua ammo.

I then called back to talk to the supposed "website" contact person - made no progress whatsover.

So I've sent an email requesting account deletion.

As far as I am concerned - if you have the item in your cart and go through the checkout process within the next few minutes - the websites in question should honor that. It's just not right to allow those who appear later to "cut in line" so to speak.

I hear you and that sucks. I've gotten burned a few times from PSA that way because of their notoriously crappy website when it gets hit with high traffic. But...you have to realize it's a first come, first serve business. You have good intentions but what's to stop the next guy from having 2 browsers open and "reserving" a bunch of ammo in his carts and burning the rest of us? It's the small percentage of people that f*** it up for the rest of us, as a gun owner in California you should know this.

Sometimes I wonder why I sign up for email notifications at all with some of these websites, namely AIM and MidwayUSA... recently I've gotten quite a few notifications of items back in stock, where I immediately click on the link to purchase, only to find that said items are already out of stock, or maybe were not in stock to begin with... Almost feels like someone over there is playing with me by sending me these notifications to see what I would do...

Most recently (within the last two months), I've signed up for and gotten three email notifications from MidwayUSA for the CZ 82 10 round mag I've been waiting for. Every single time, I jump right on it and place it in my cart while checking to see if there is anything else I need to pick up, and by the time I refresh the screen to the payment page, the item is already out of stock and whatever was added to my cart was shown as Backordered... Pissed me off so bad I just said forget it...

I hear you and that sucks. I've gotten burned a few times from PSA that way because of their notoriously crappy website when it gets hit with high traffic. But...you have to realize it's a first come, first serve business. You have good intentions but what's to stop the next guy from having 2 browsers open and "reserving" a bunch of ammo in his carts and burning the rest of us? It's the small percentage of people that f*** it up for the rest of us, as a gun owner in California you should know this.

^^THIS.

I don't even bother with PSA anymore. Their website shopping cart sucks donkey.

I truly thing some of us have become used to instant gratification on the web. Maybe you?

Nice ad-hom there by sleight of hand...

Pretty much all "shopping cart application" software comes with a "stale shopping cart management" feature that is either included - or added on as a module. For OsCommerce for example, it's an add-on module.

One thing that can be a nuisance to an online vendor is people who put something in a cart - and then don't bother to check it out and buy it.

Meanwhile, those who really want it and ARE ready to pay for it are stuck waiting in line staring at an "Out of Stock" status even though that is really not the case.

This can be very frustrating for online vendors...they want to sell to buyers ready to buy. It's that simple.

So understandably, they'll set the "stale cart removal" setting to 3 or 5 minutes during times of high demand.

I have nothing against that: If you really want it - you'll put it in your cart, check it out, pay for it, and verify the order in 3-5 minutes.

Otherwise, 3-5 minutes later - it goes back into inventory for the next person waiting behind you.

Let me repeat again - I fully understand why vendors do this...especially during high demand.

What I have a problem with are vendors who either unintentionally or intentionally set the window to a minute or less - or even set it to "0".

What that essentially means is that before you can even go to check out - your cart has already been declared "stale" - and when you go to check out and pay for it - YOU are staring at "Out of Stock" - while the person after you grabs it.

Once again, whether this is done unintentionally or intentionally - doesn't matter. The message the vendor is sending is that (1) they don't care about "cutting in line" and (2) they don't really care about their customers to respect them enough to give 'em enough time to commit and buy.

Once again, whether unintentional or intentional - the message is the same.

Unlike the Tennessee company I dealt with last weak - the rep at AimSurplus tried to deny the obvious...

When this kind of thing happens, I've already made my decision:

1. All existing orders are cancelled.
2. My account is to be closed.

I prefer to deal with companies that have at least a modicum of honesty or decency.

Palmetto may have an extremely sluggish site under load - but if I get in early and put something in my cart and check out and purchase within a couple minutes - I get it.

ChampChoice may have an extremely sluggish site under any load - but if I get in early and put something in my cart and check out and purchase within a couple minutes - I get it.

SGammo - same thing. If I get in early, put it in my cart and then check out and purchase within a couple minutes - I get it.

MidWayUSA - same thing. If I get in early, put it in my cart and then check out and purchase within a couple minutes - I get it.

Same for LaxAmmo...same for TargetSportsUSA, same for KYGunco...

...but at AIMSurplus yesterday - not only did I have the order in cart, and checked out - but I had it PAID in 30 seconds.

...but apparently while my order was still sitting in buffers in memory - my cart was declared stale (somehow) and my order UNDONE with the contents tossed back into inventory for the person after me...

WHILE I WAS ON THE PHONE WITH "TOM" REQUESTING THAT IT BE MERGED WITH AN EXISTING ORDER FOR LAPUA AND AN AMMO CAN.

Neither of us was aware of what had happened until AFTER we both started to check my orders status to get a merge going...

I explained to "Tom" that whether it was intentional or unintentional - they needed to check how "tight" they are running "shopping cart management" because it's not right to allow this kind of thing to happen.

One thing to understand about email alerts. Email was not designed as an immediate and guaranteed delivery system. Email is a best effort, eventual delivery system at it's core. It is often made less reliable and slower by the many different systems that have been implemented to deal with the spam problem. Most of the time everything works perfectly and delivery appears near instant, but there are no guarantees with email. It's very easy for inventory alert emails to get dropped or delayed as spam.